New holiday songs to enjoy

Happy holiday music!

Are you starting to get sick of the same old holiday songs? Well, good news! This year you have two brand-new options to enjoy!

This article from NPR shares how the University of Toronto’s Computer Science Department has taught a computer (using an algorithm) how to write sing along music! They call it “neural karaoke.”

Check out the video here:

And here is an awesome re-make of the classic “Baby It’s Cold Outside” that has changed lyrics to make it a little less creepy and more about consent. This article does a great job of explaining the song in its historical context, too.

Take a listen here:

 

AASL Recommended App: Humanities & Arts: Homes

In June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

The app Homes allows students to travel around the globe and take interactive tours of different traditional homes. They can learn about living in a Brooklyn brownstone, Yemeni tower house, Mongolian ger (yurt), and Guatemalan adobe. Students learn about daily activities in other cultures and see how electricity and water is directed in each building. The app is available in over 50 languages and has a guide for parents that includes questions to help encourage learning.

You can read a review and how to use the app in the classroom here,

Cost: $3.99
Level: Elementary
Platforms: iOS

Watch the video here:

Notable Dates for your Noggin: January

Each month we’ll bring you a compiled list of fun national holidays, birthdays of authors, and publication dates of favorite books. You can use these for your own personal use or for some library inspiration! Share what inspired you in the comments.

January is National Hobby Month! Other things to celebrate in January. . .

Ever read a whole book in one sitting?

Must be a good book!

Librarians have SO much more to their job than just working with books (teaching/dealing with technology, customer service, information literacy, plus so much more) however, books tend to be very special to librarians! Most, if not all, librarians are avid readers. So hopefully you will be able to relate to this cute slideshow all about finishing a book in one sitting!

Have you ever been so pulled into a book that you literally could not put it down until you found out what happened? Or, on the flip side, have you ever raced to finish a book because it was terrible but you wanted to just get it done? 🙂

My most recent race-to-finish books:
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (because I needed a break from the intensity of the book, but also really wanted to find out what happened!)
A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee (because I didn’t really care for it)

Biking while working – at the library!

Read the article here – these look so fun!

In this article from American Libraries, Troy University in Alabama is featured because of their awesome new additions – six exercise bikes with tables for laptops that were purchased for student use!
Three bikes are available in the library’s student space at the main campus in Troy, and three are available at the university’s extension campus in Dothan, AL. The additions have been so popular and well-received that the university has ordered three more bikes and six elliptical machines that can be used under tables while students are seated!